


Next Christmas

by starrnobella



Series: 24 days of starrnobella [22]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 24 days of starrnobella, Advent Calendar, Canon Universe, Christmas Countdown, Christmas Presents, F/M, First Christmas, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 18:57:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13106457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrnobella/pseuds/starrnobella
Summary: We all know what happened within the next year, but what was the first Potter family Christmas like?





	Next Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LeanaM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeanaM/gifts).



> A/N: So we have happy and fluffy stories for a few days and now I'm going to slam you all with some feels. I'm sorry for that in advance and I beg that you please don't hate me.
> 
> This story was prompted by LeanaM, so be mad at her for the feels and not me… just saying! The story was beta read by GaeilgeRua.
> 
> In all honesty, I love both of these ladies so much for all the help that they have been in my time of need in terms of prompts!
> 
> All of the usual disclaimers apply. I don't write for profit and I certainly don't own any of these characters. J. K. Rowling is a wonderful human being for supporting fanfiction and allowing authors to express themselves with the help of her characters and the world she created.
> 
> If you are interested in checking out my other works or keeping up with me in general, I have an author's page on Facebook that you can check out (starrnobella Fanfiction) as well as a group (starrnobella Fanfiction Friends & Fans) that I am very active in on a daily basis. I'm also on tumblr (starrnobella) that you can follow along with me as well.
> 
> Title: Next Christmas  
> Pairing: Jily  
> Rating: K  
> Summary: We all know what happened within the next year, but what was the first Potter family Christmas like?
> 
> I'm sorry for the feels….
> 
> Love always,
> 
> ~starr

It was Christmas morning and for the first time in weeks, the world outside was quiet. Everything surrounding them was peaceful. It seemed as though the war that was ravishing the world they lived in was taking a break, even if that break was likely to be short.

It also happened to be Harry Potter's first Christmas. The small cottage in Godric's Hollow was bursting at the seams with excitement. All of the Marauders planned to gather to celebrate together and watch Harry attempt to open his presents. The tree was surrounded by more gifts than Lily and James knew what to do with, but they wanted this Christmas to be special. They all deserved happy memories to remember this time of year with.

Lily was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the turkey before slipping it into the oven when she heard a knock at the door. Sighing she stepped away from the turkey and moved quickly to answer the door. She hoped that when she opened it she would find a friendly face on the other side of the door. In this day and age, one could never be too careful opening their door.

When she opened the door, she was greeted by three large piles of presents being held by headless arms. She laughed as she pulled the door open as far as she could get it to go. "I told you all not to buy him too much stuff. He's barely six months old," Lily replied, ushering her friends in out of the cold.

Behind the first piles of presents was Peter Pettigrew with a smile beaming from his face. "'ello, Lily. Merry Christmas," he said cheerfully, leaning over to place a quick kiss upon her face before moving the rest of the way into the cottage.

"Merry Christmas, Wormtail," she replied, kissing his cheek as well before stepping aside so that he could get past.

Next up was Remus. Lily leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Merry Christmas, Remus," she told him, shaking her head as she looked at the giant stack of presents.

"Merry Christmas, Lily. Peter and I's presents are at the bottom of this stack," Remus replied. "The rest are his," he said, tilting his backwards slightly and nodding towards Sirius.

Lily rolled her eyes and laughed. "I figured that was the case."

Remus laughed and moved past her to add his collection of gifts to the display under the tree and went in search of James and Harry. Spending time with one of his best friends without being under the threat of magical war fire was far over due.

"And the man of the hour," Lily laughed, stepping forward and offering to take some of the presents out of Sirius's hands. "It's almost as though Santa Claus dropped off a lot of presents at your flat as well."

Sirius handed a few presents over to her and smiled broadly at her. "He's my godson, Lily. It's my job to spoil him rotten," he replied, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek before walking the rest of the way into the cottage.

Lily sighed, closing the door behind him and following along to drop the presents off under the tree before returning to the task of getting Christmas dinner ready to be served. It was the first time since leaving home that she was cooking a meal for a full house. It felt nice to have her home full of the people she loved most in the world.

"If Harry needs me, I'll be in the kitchen," she called as she walked away. She could hear the sound of chess pieces being set up and rolled her eyes. Of course the first thing that James would want to do on Christmas morning after his friends arrived at their home was badger them into a game of chess. Maybe one day she'd learn how to play, however the turkey needed tending first.

. . . . . . . .

"Come on, Harry. Give Uncle Peter a smile," Peter said, tickling baby Harry slightly with a goofy grin on his face. The small child refused to acknowledge the odd looking man who kept making silly faces at him.

Baby Harry just sat in his bouncer with a frown on his face. Peter tried all of the tricks he knew to get the baby to smile and it appeared that nothing would work. Not even Harry's favorite toy earned Peter a look of favor.

Opting to give up before he made Harry cry, Peter crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall he had been sitting in front of while playing with Harry.

James, who had been keeping an eye on the whole ordeal out of the corner of his eye, finally spoke for the first time during the chess match he was playing against Remus. "Unless you are his mother or for some reason, his godfather, Harry will refuse to smile for you. I'm the boy's father and I can barely get a smile out of him," James said with a laugh.

"I got a brief giggle out of him when I first arrived," Remus chimed in, refusing to look up from the chess board as he contemplated his next move, depending upon what plays James's move added to the board.

"That's because I was standing right behind you and Harry saw me," Sirius said with a laugh from his seat on the couch before rising from the couch and moving towards Harry. "He knows who is going to spoil him the most, don't you, my boy?"

He leaned down and picked Harry up out of the bouncer, eliciting a flood of giggles to erupt from the babe. Sirius bounced Harry up and down a few moments and smiled at him. The joy on Harry's face lightened Sirius's heart. Christmas was always a tough time of year for the Black family, but since Sirius and Remus had come to find a friend in James, the holidays didn't seem so tough anymore.

"Maybe Harry just doesn't like you, Wormtail. Did you ever think that that was the reason he won't smile at you?" Sirius teased, sticking his tongue out in Peter direction. Although he wasn't expecting the sentiment that Peter shared with him next.

"Why wouldn't he like me? I have done anything that would result in that fact, yet," Peter quipped quickly, but was suddenly overcome with a look of panic. "Not that I have any plans for anything…"

His voice trailed off, but Sirius hadn't missed what he had said. Slowly, Sirius lowered Harry back into the bouncer and pulled it towards him on the couch. He continued to play with Baby Harry aimlessly, while keeping his thoughts focused on what Peter had just said. Something about Peter's sentiments didn't quite add up and Sirius was going to figure out what was going on.

All he could hope for however that it wasn't going to be too late.

. . . . . . . .

"Alright boys," Lily called from the dining room after setting the turkey down on the table. Sighing, she took a moment to look at the spread she was able to produce in such a small amount of time. After being woken up by a crying baby at half four this morning, she was proud of what she had been able to accomplish on such little sleep. "Dinner's ready!" she announced proudly.

She walked over to the entryway of the dining room and leaned up against the wall as she waited for the four men to bring her son and have a seat at the table. Shortly, all four men walked past her and found their place around the table. James paused momentarily in front of her and kissed her softly on the lips as he handed Harry over to her.

"It smells delicious," he said with a smile before joining his friends at the table.

"Thank you," she said happily, following behind him and setting Harry down in his high chair and took her seat beside him. She looked around the table and smiled. Her heart felt light and it seemed as though nothing could ruin this perfect evening.

"The table looks lovely, Lily," Peter said, nervously fumbling with the silverware in front of him.

"And the food smells delicious," Remus added with a smile beaming from his face. "Thank you for preparing it, Lily."

"Anything for my boys," she said with a laugh. "Let's eat!"

"Before we do that, I'd like to make a toast," Sirius chimed in, breaking his unusual silence from earlier in the evening. Everyone turned to look at him, each one with a smile on their faces, all that was except for Peter. There was something bothering him based on his change in demeanor from the conversation they were all having earlier. Sirius had picked up on the change, but hadn't said anything to anyone yet.

Sirius picked his glass of wine up off the table and raised it in the air. He smiled at his friends as he looked around the table.

"Let's be honest, it's been one hell of a year. It has been filled with ups, such as Harry's birth, and downs, like the rise of power under Voldemort. But no matter how hard the year has gotten for any of us, we have always found time for one another. We have always been there for one another no matter when we are needed.

"I couldn't have asked for a better group of friends to call my family. If it weren't for you all, I probably would have flunked out of Hogwarts and Godric only knows what would have happened to me. I'm thankful for everything that has come into my life because I have known you all."

Sirius looked around the table as he took a deep breath. This was his family and he wouldn't want to call anyone else family. This was where he felt at home.

"So I want to raise a toast to family who have become friends and friends who become family. I don't know what I would do without you all. Merry Christmas, everyone. Cheers!" Sirius said, raising his glass in a toast. Everyone else joined him before taking a sip of their drinks. "I hope that by next Christmas the war is over."


End file.
